The warm feeling of yet another gold

HEAD DOWN: Jamie O'Leary (left), with his son Anthony, said their "numerous" gold awards were a result of a lifetime of "head down, ass up" work.PHOTO/BEVAN CONLEY

A College Estate house described as a modern take on a bungalow and a Bastia Hill property built on a steep slope in winter have won regional gold awards in the Registered Master Builders 2014 House of the Year competition.

Richards Construction Limited of Marton won the award for Wanganui-Manawatu region in the James Hardie new homes $450,000-$600,000 category and Stonewood Homes (Wanganui) won the award in the PlaceMakers New Homes $350,000-$450,000.

The three-bedroom, two-living-room, two-bathroom College Estate home was built on a secluded back section with established trees.

The College Estate house was built on a back section with established gardens.

"The one-and-a-half-storey house was architecturally designed to be a modern take on a bungalow," entry notes said.

"It sits comfortably among its neighbours, giving the feeling it has always been there."

The design includes two cedar chimney surrounds; and a non-slip tiled entry area is enhanced by coloured glass panels that send multi-coloured rays of light down the entrance hallway, creating a warm ambience.

"The formal dining/lounge area flows easily into a light-filled family room, which opens out on to a large outdoor living space where stone detail has been used to provide flat access to the house allowing ease of indoor/outdoor flow," notes said.

"Features like comfortable window seats, gas and wood fires, sliding stackers, skylights, a viewing window, double glazing, sound-restricting doors and noise-control insulation enhance the ease of living in these spaces."

The upstairs was specifically designed to give the owners a private living space.

"It has a light, airy feeling to it with a relaxing library and an office with views onto the entrance, garden and pool area."

Builder Richard Ellery said he'd won gold "quite a few times" before, but "winning gold always gives you a great feeling no matter how many times you do it."

Mr Ellery said the award showed the commitment of "the boys" to a high standard of workmanship.

His favourite thing about the house was "probably the way it pans out to the light and the sun. It's just a really comfortable and cosy home."

The Bastia Hill property sits proud on its elevated position.

The Bastia Hill, Wanganui, home of four bedrooms, two bathrooms and two living rooms was built by Jamie O'Leary.

A substantial retaining wall with posts 2.7m in the ground and 2.7m above was required to create its platform. The steep driveway gives an indication of the elevation of the location, which added to the logistics of concrete and material cartage. It is a clay-based building site and a winter house-build schedule was embarked upon.

The client wanted a single-level dwelling with a simple floor plan. Over-height windows capture solar heat and combine with the over-height internal doors and 2.5m stud allows airflow. There is a central vacuum system, and a Maxi gas boiler system supplies semi instantaneous hot water, as well as the in-floor heating.

Mr O'Leary said the award was a result of "a lifetime of head down, ass up".

He, too, had won "numerous" awards for his work.

"I guess if you're being judged against a scorecard rather than against your colleagues it's all about the colour of the medal at the end of the day," he said.

Mr O'Leary's son, Anthony, the general manager of the company, said most of what went into getting an award all came back to the client.

"They make the final decision," he said.

"They've got the vision, we're there to try and put it into reality."

The top 100 Gold Award winners in the contest from across the country become National Gold Reserve finalists and will be judged again for the national competition.